The first image-guided percutaneous vertebroplasty was performed in France in 1984. Percutaneous vertebroplasty recently has been introduced as a therapeutic alternative for the treatment of pain associated with compression fracture. Several European reports have described excellent results for treatment of compression fracture, and complications were minor and infrequent. We experienced a case of root injury after percutaneous vertebroplasty in compression fracture, which was treated by posterior decompression and removal of the cement.
Decompression ; Fractures, Compression* ; France ; Vertebroplasty*

No abstract available.
Delivery of Health Care* ; France* ; Health Care Reform*

No abstract available.
Delivery of Health Care* ; France* ; Health Care Reform*

In order to ensure the rights of medical self-regulation, what precondition should be fulfilled by the Korean Medical Association (KMA) or any other independent medical association or organization? Regulatory authority is defined as an exercise of legal power by the State for the rights and interests of the people. Thus, if Korean physicians seek to regulate themselves, on the one hand, the KMA or any other independent medical association or organization should achieve delegation from the State, and on the other, Korean medical professionalism should fully reflect the State philosophy. This paper aims to examine the origin and precondition of medical self-regulation in French State philosophy and French medical professionalism. For this purpose, the following topics are covered: (1) Who was involved in the establishment of the French State philosophy and what was the role of French physicians? (2) By whom and how was French State philosophy introduced in American State philosophy? (3) What medical ideas and values are included in the Declaration of Human and Civic Rights of 1789? (4) How is French State philosophy emblematized by three key values-freedom, equality, and fraternity-incorporated in French medical professionalism? Dealing with these topics, this paper claims, on the basis of French history and philosophy, that the most important precondition of medical self-regulation is for medical professionalism to sufficiently reflect the State philosophy, and consequently the KMA or any other independent medical association or organization representing Korean physicians should willingly be involved in shaping the Korean State philosophy.
France* ; Hand ; Humans ; Philosophy* ; Professionalism* ; Self-Control*

In order to ensure the rights of medical self-regulation, what precondition should be fulfilled by the Korean Medical Association (KMA) or any other independent medical association or organization? Regulatory authority is defined as an exercise of legal power by the State for the rights and interests of the people. Thus, if Korean physicians seek to regulate themselves, on the one hand, the KMA or any other independent medical association or organization should achieve delegation from the State, and on the other, Korean medical professionalism should fully reflect the State philosophy. This paper aims to examine the origin and precondition of medical self-regulation in French State philosophy and French medical professionalism. For this purpose, the following topics are covered: (1) Who was involved in the establishment of the French State philosophy and what was the role of French physicians? (2) By whom and how was French State philosophy introduced in American State philosophy? (3) What medical ideas and values are included in the Declaration of Human and Civic Rights of 1789? (4) How is French State philosophy emblematized by three key values-freedom, equality, and fraternity-incorporated in French medical professionalism? Dealing with these topics, this paper claims, on the basis of French history and philosophy, that the most important precondition of medical self-regulation is for medical professionalism to sufficiently reflect the State philosophy, and consequently the KMA or any other independent medical association or organization representing Korean physicians should willingly be involved in shaping the Korean State philosophy.
France* ; Hand ; Humans ; Philosophy* ; Professionalism* ; Self-Control*

The surveillance programme of work-related diseases (WRD) is based on a network of occupational physicians who notify all WRD diagnosed during a two-week observation period. The aims are mainly to estimate the prevalence of non-compensated WRD in the working population according to socio economic factors; to determine new indicators of occupational health; to update the lists of compensable occupational diseases; to understand and assess under-compensation and under-notification. The participation rate for occupational physicians is around 33% in 2008. The main WRD are the musculoskeletal disorders, followed by the mental disorders. This 2-week protocol, repeated regularly, provides useful data on frequency of pathologies linked to employment as well as an estimate of unreported WRD subject to compensation or non-compensated WRDs, and the trends of WRDs over the time.
Compensation and Redress ; Employment ; France ; Mental Disorders ; Prevalence

Since the 3rd WIN meeting in 1982 more than 500 participants join the meeting in Val D'Isere every year [1]. One of our authors has attended the meeting more than 10 times. He experienced many physical illnesses while travelling from South Korea to Val D'Isere in France, which is located in the Alps mountain near the border between France and Italy. In order to get there, it is necessary to take airplane, train, and/or bus with a heavy suitcase. During the trip which usually takes more than 15 hours, he experienced headache, gastrointestinal trouble, sleep disturbance and other additional physical illnesses. Therefore, we reviewed the itinerary to Val D'Isere and presented physical illnesses which occurred during a long trip for an academic activity by specialized professionals such as university hospital professors. In addition, we discussed the mechanism of such illnesses and offered possible solutions including medical treatment.
Aircraft ; France ; Headache ; Italy ; Korea* ; Travel Medicine

Claude Bernard, a French physiologist in the nineteenth century, strove to establish experimental physiology as a medical branch and scientific field. In 1854, he started his lecture series on general physiology at the Paris Faculty of Sciences, which was continued at the National Museum of Natural History since 1869 when Bernard's chair was transferred from the Faculty to the Museum. At the Museum, Bernard titled his lecture series the "Phenomena of Life Common to Animals and Plants," which revealed the main characteristic of his general physiology. At that time, physiology was generally considered a medical science which dealt only with the human body. Bernard, on the other hand, came to have the idea that physiology could study the functions of plant, animal, and human bodies in the same manner. Bernard's lectures on general physiology had two distinct phases. At Sorbonne, general physiology was a rather speculative theoretical system. It was mainly because of the fact that he did not have a laboratory at the Faculty of Sciences. There, the lecture dealt only with animal functions, and he had no concern for plant physiology at all. After he moved to the Museum, significant changes occurred. In the new laboratory, general physiology was transformed into a truly experimental science, which dealt with both animals and plants. Protoplasm, a physiological basic unit, replaced tissue, which was basically an anatomical unit that fell short of explaining physiological phenomena. The Museum of Natural History played an important role in this transformation. At the museum, zoologists, botanists, and physiologists worked together, and the peculiar natural history tradition of the institution enabled scientists to study animals and plants at the same time. Although there existed some conflicts between experimentalists and naturalists, Bernard could wisely figure out the problem by asserting that the role of a physiologist was to disclose, by experimentation, the fundamental principles that lay behind the superficial facts of life that were already discovered by natural historians. At the Museum, Bernard could break down the distinction between the animal and plant kingdoms in the domain of experimental physiology, and it can perhaps be considered a step toward the formation of the general science of biology.
Biomedical Research/history ; France ; History, 19th Century ; Humans ; Physiology/*history

Social medicine is recognized as one of medical specialties in many countries. However, social medicine has never been formally introduced to Korea, presumably because the term and its principles were not accepted for some years in the past in American medicine, which has strongly influenced Korean medicine. This paper describes the origins and evolution of social medicine and briefly discusses contemporary social medicine in Korea. Social medicine was initiated in France and Germany in 1848. Since then, it has expanded globally and developed in diverse ways. Included in core principles of social medicine is that social and economic conditions have important effects on health and disease, and that these relationships must be subjected to scientific investigation. The term ‘social medicine’ is rarely used in Korea, but many of its subject matters are incorporated into preventive medicine which, besides prevention, deals with population health that is inescapably social. However, the Korean preventive medicine directs little attention to the basic concepts and principles of social medicine, upon which systematic development of social medicine can be based. Thus, it is necessary to supplement the social medicine contents of preventive medicine through formalizing the linkages between the two fields. One way of doing so would be to change the title of ‘preventive medicine’ course in medical colleges to ‘preventive and social medicine,’ as in many other countries, and to adjust the course contents accordingly.
France ; Germany ; Korea* ; Preventive Medicine ; Republic of Korea ; Social Medicine*

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to estimate socioeconomic costs caused by alcohol drinking in Korea as of 2004 in an effort to raise the awareness of the gravity of problems associated with alcohol drinking and the necessity of active intervention by family physicians. METHODS: The costs were classified as direct costs, indirect costs and other costs. The direct costs consisted of direct medical costs and direct non-medical costs. The indirect costs were computed by the reduction and loss of productivity and the loss of workforce. Other costs consisted of property loss, administration costs and costs of alcohol beverage. RESULTS: The annual costs, which seemed to be attributable to alcohol drinking, were estimated to be 200,990 hundred million won (2.9% of GDP). In the case of the former, the amount included 38.83% for reduction of productivity, 26.92% for loss of the workforce, 22.24% for alcoholic beverage, 5.34% for direct medical costs, 2.29% for loss of productivity, 1.87% for direct non- medical costs, 1.54% for administration costs and 0.97% for loss of property. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that compared with the cases of Japan (1.9% of GNP), Canada (1.09% of GDP), France (1.42% of GDP) and Scotland (1.19% of GDP), alcohol drinking incurs substantial socioeconomic costs to Koreans. An active intervention by family physicians is suggested.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholic Beverages ; Canada ; Efficiency ; France ; Gravitation ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Physicians, Family ; Scotland